St Clears Castle

St Clears Castle is a ruined Norman motte-and-bailey fortress on the edge of the small town of St Clears in Carmarthenshire. It stands where the Taf and Cynin rivers meet, a spot that once marked the limit of navigable water. Built late in the 11th century, it was known in Welsh as Ystrad Cyngen and later as Banc y Beili. The castle was captured and recaptured many times during the 12th and 13th centuries by Welsh princes and Anglo-Norman lords. In 1215 Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth destroyed it, and by the 14th century it had been abandoned to ruin. The site shows the classic parts of a motte-and-bailey castle. A large earthen mound, the motte, rises 8 to 12 metres above the surrounding ground. At its top once stood a timber tower, later replaced by a stone keep. To the south stretches the rectangular bailey, 70 to 75 metres long and 45 to 85 metres wide. Within the bailey would have been a Great Hall, kitchens, a chapel, stables and workshops, all protected by a ditch and bank. Over time lime kilns were built against the old ramparts. Today only the motte and the bailey remain. The motte is about 37 to 48 metres wide and 8 to 12 metres high, with a summit platform 10 by 15 to 20 metres across. The bailey’s broad rectangle is still clearly visible, though its internal buildings have vanished. The castle lies roughly 200 metres south of St Clears parish church, surrounded by modern houses. The scheduled monument offers a quiet place to walk among grassy banks and earthworks that recall a turbulent medieval past.